NEW YORK--MSLGroup North America has made two senior appointments to its 'brand and talent' employee engagement practice.

Brian Burgess is named practice director for North America, after heading the practice in the firm's New York office.

In addition, MSLGroup has hired organizational communication specialst Andreau Blanchard from Mercer as a VP.

Burgess will report to Shellie Winkler, MSLGroup North America health and corporate practice director, while Blanchard reports to Burgess. Both are based at MSL New York.

“Brian is an exceptional, client-focused leader and the consummate specialist in employee engagement who will continue to help deepen our capabilities in aligning brand reputation and talent engagement,” said Renee Wilson, MSLGroup North America president.

“Andreau is a seasoned professional with deep and valuable experience in workplace communications, a specialty that has become more important to our clients,”

Burgess joined MSL Atlanta in 2004, before transferring to MSL New York in 2008. Before joining MSLGroup, Burgess directed internal communications and corporate branding at AGL Resources, an Atlanta-based energy company, and has also worked at InterContinental Hotels Group.

At Mercer, Blanchard was a principal in the consulting firm's workforce communication and change business. Prior to Mercer, he worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global human resource solutions consulting practice.